Morgan State University (MSU) requests NIH/NIGMS support to renew our MBRS Support for Continuous Research Excellence (SCORE) program. The purpose of our program is to continue efforts initiated by the institution and in our previous SCORE program to facilitate the development of our faculty engaged in biomedical research at the institution as successful independent investigators. Therefore the long-term goals of proposed program are to: (1) sustain a multidisciplinary research environment that integrates information across Biomedical and Biochemical disciplines that is centered on the health-care disparities often associated with the urban environment. This research will complement our current teaching and research activities; (2) strengthen the research infrastructure that will forge collaborative partnerships with other research-intensive institutions, industries, government agencies and civic/nonprofit organizations; and (3) to continue the support of faculty development programs that will enhance research at the institution. The specific goals and objectives of the MSU-SCORE program are to: 1) to continue to enhance the research capabilities of the institution, 2) to increase, over the new 4-year SCORE program funding period, the amount of research grant support by research faculty in participating departments by 25%, and 3) to increase the number of presentations and publications by faculty members in the departments of Biology and Chemistry by 25% and 50%, respectively. The proposed MSU-SCORE program is uniquely positioned to accomplish its goal given that the overall mission of the MBRS-SCORE program is consonant with the goals of the Institution, the presence of a large pool of faculty engaged in biomedical research that are moving toward independence, and a significant pool minority students in other MORE programs (MARC U*STAR and MBRS RISE) in participating departments who are in need of research mentors with extramural support to provide them with quality laboratory experiences. The impact of a sound research experience for trainees we hope will not only increase their competitiveness to enter graduate programs leading to the research doctorate but to also successfully complete them. Therefore, the MBRS-SCORE program and the ten research projects submitted projects are interrelated with our training of minority students and is an integral component in Morgan State University's overall research mission. We believe that continuation of the MBRS SCORE program at Morgan State University will further enhance the institution's ability to achieve its research goals and objectives.